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Bill O'Brien says Penn State players will buy into James Franklin's program

Bill O'Brien introduced as Houton Texans coach

Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien holds a Texans helmet following a news conference at Reliant Stadium on Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, in Houston. O'Brien comes to the Texas, replacing Gary Kubiak, after two seasons as the head coach at Penn State. Cal McNair, Texans vice chairman and COO, is shown on the left.
(Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle)

INDIANAPOLIS – Bill O’Brien said he doesn’t remember who reached out first, but he and James Franklin did speak before Franklin accepted the Penn State head coaching job last month.

“I’ve known James for a long time. I coached with him at the University of Maryland. We spoke,” O’Brien said Friday afternoon at the NFL Scouting Combine. “We spoke a few times leading up to him getting the job. I think he’ll do a great job there.

“He’s a fantastic coach and the kids will really buy into him. He’ll do a great job recruiting. It’s a place that can really win a lot of games.”

Since O’Brien departed Penn State in January the former Nittany Lion head coach has been busy running his new program with the Houston Texans. He and his wife wrapped up loose ends in State College and O’Brien said the family has sold their old home. For those wondering, no, the Franklin’s did not buy O’Brien’s house although the Texans’ coach did laugh when asked about it.

Franklin said at his introductory press conference on Jan. 11 that O’Brien will be a guy who he can bounce ideas off of as he works through his first year at Penn State. O’Brien said on Friday that transitioning back to the NFL seems easier than going back to the collegiate ranks since the rules in the NFL “for the most part are a lot more straight forward.”

“We kind of were brought up in this profession under Ralph Friedgen,” Franklin said of O’Brien on Jan. 11. “Billy was with him at Georgia Tech, and I was with him at the University of Maryland, and we were able to get back together at the University of Maryland. Me and Billy lived in the same neighborhood. Colleen [O'Brien] and my wife are good friends. They've spoken about the most important thing, which is school districts and houses.”

“I loved Penn State,” O’Brien said. “[I] enjoyed the players that I coached there. I think it’s a great school, I think it’s a fantastic school. I think the student body is great. I felt like this was an opportunity for me, for my family, for my wife, for my two sons that we couldn’t pass up. To come to Houston, which is a fantastic city and to work for a great owner and work with a great general manager in Rick Smith and try to field a very, very competitive NFL football team.”

O’Brien brought with him six former Penn State assistants who have helped him make the transition back to the NFL. He also added Romeo Crennel as his defensive coordinator and George Godsey as the quarterbacks coach. Add in linebackers coach Mike Vrabel, whom O’Brien plucked from the Ohio State staff, only to have former Penn State assistant Larry Johnson replace Vrabel at Ohio State, and O’Brien’s staff is full of people he knows well as he heads into year one on the job.

“I brought some guys with me from Penn State that I really believe in. Good coaches, smart guys, good communicators. They understand how we work, the hours that we work, the way we work, the way we meet, the style of play that we want to play and things like that. Anytime you can bring guys with you like that I think it definitely helps the transition.”

Worth noting:

Bill O’Brien was also asked about whether or not the height of a quarterback is a difference maker. O’Brien, who coached Matt McGloin in 2012 at Penn State, was asked about despite McGloin’s stature how the quarterback was able to succeed and play with the Raiders as an undrafted rookie.

“He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s competitive,” O’Brien said. “He really works hard to improve his game. I have a lot of respect for Matt. We had a really fun year that first year at Penn State. He worked extremely hard to improve his own game and you have to give Matt all the credit. He really did a good job of learning the offense and being a good leader, being a good teammate and I was happy to see what he did in Oakland.”